It was band's first and only No. 1 single in the United States; the song additionally spent three consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart during summer 1986.
The song was the first of five consecutive U.S. Top Five singles from the album of the same name.
It also reached No. 4 in Canada and No. 15 in the United Kingdom.
As the band's only Billboard Hot 100 number one, the song is included in Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era.
In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing "one of the greatest key changes in music history".